On the evening of May 1, Nashville's business community gathered at the EC for PreFlight Pitch Night, a celebration of the entrepreneurs graduating from Session 1 2018 of our PreFlight program. 14 weeks ago, a group of 20+ entrepreneurs came to the EC with just an idea. They spent every Monday night learning and working on a business plan, meeting with advisors, and slowly forming that idea into a viable, tangible business. At PreFlight Pitch Night, 6 of those entrepreneurs gathered to pitch their ideas to the public and a panel of judges for the first time. We could not be more proud of them and so thankful all of you came out to support them! Learn more about the teams that pitched below.

Natural Products Resource Center, Hillary and Chad Blackburn

The broad legalization of medical cannabis in the United States has caught the medical community by surprise. Patients routinely seek advice from traditional pharmacists about drug interactions with cannabis. Pharmacists are not trained to deliver this advice which creates liability. Natural Products Resource Center’s online, self-paced, compliance-driven training provides pharmacists with 2 products: a board certification (large one time fee) and CE that’s required to maintain their board certification (small recurring fee).

Do., Dustin Lippert

Choosing a career direction while still a student in high school is an increasingly complex task. The best way to know assuredly that you are going down the right path is to experience as many things as possible and talk to as many people as possible during the decision making process. Do. will be a career exploration platform for juniors and seniors that provides access to local professionals willing to give advice, discuss their roles, and even job shadowing as well as curated first-hand experiences based around industries of interest.

Bar Tools, Marcus Baney

Bar Tools is a content platform that enables bartenders to find quality information quickly and effortlessly. By cutting through the online clutter, we give bartenders the resources to be better, smarter, and more efficient, and ultimately make more money.

Nurturers, Natasha Marshall

Nurturers offers childcare at the convenience of your home, hotel or Airbnb, as well as event childcare such as weddings. Nurturers is designed to temporarily relieve parents of their parental duties through quality childcare.

Bluma, Chris Sanders

Bluma is a web-based platform serving the end-of-life space. The Bluma platform will be the all-in-one place for customers who are planning, researching and coordinating funerals and burials. A single place to push information, align calendars, view to-do's, FAQs, crowdfund, gifts and find content.

With the Band is a mobile app that is bringing the fan experience to a whole new level. With the Band fosters relationships among the fans while giving them access to exclusive content from their favorite artists. With the Band is helping fans find their significance and purpose in their fan communities by helping them participate and coordinate fan projects and fan meet-ups.

PreFlight is the EC's premier program for idea stage entrepreneurs. The 14-week program equips you with the tools to turn your idea into reality. You'll get unlimited access to EC advisors, business curriculum, and dedicated workspace. Interested in learning more? Check out our PreFlight page!